this is "world news." tonight, outbreak. an explosion of new cases of meningitis. tonight the surge in the number of patients who thought they were getting an injection to help their pain, instead infected with deadly meningitis. the big chill. bitter cold and tonight already snow in some places. the system on the move. meteorologist ginger zee is right here with how long the deep freeze lasts. whiplash. tonight, just 30 days to go, the biggest crowds yet for mitt romney, but the president fueled too by the lowest unemployment rate since he took office. tonight you new and eye-opening polls and after that comment during the debate, look who's talking. >> here now to comment, big bird. [ cheers and applause ] >> big bird, winging it. and charged up. the daredevil once frozen in ice then buried alive now shocking himself, letting perfect strangers zap him.

good evening on this sunday night, and we do begin here with that deadly outbreak of meningitis. we learned late today it is quickly spreading all because of those steroid shots to the spine for patients who thought they were getting relief from their pain. just in the last 24 hours, at least 27 more people have become sick. that brings the total number of cases to 91. at least seven people have now died from this, and tonight in a troubling development, that massachusetts company that made that steroid shot is now recalling every single product it makes out of what it calls an abundance of caution. abc's mark greenblatt leads us off. >> reporter: the pharmacy at the center of the meningitis outbreak today announced a voluntary recall of every product it makes, saying this action is being taken out of an abundance of caution due to the potential risk of contamination. >> i'm scared. >> reporter: the number of

meningitis patients jumping today from 64 to 91 confirmed cases in 9 states with 7 confirmed deaths. the outbreak began with a contaminated shipment of drugs from the new england compounding center. that drug injected into the spine for back pain was contaminated with a fungus that can go from the spinal fluid up to the brain causing a rare form of meningitis. the company is one of thousands of compound pharmacies that mix their own medicine but don't have to meet fda safety standards for manufacturing drugs. the idea, to let some tailor make drugs for patients who need a special blend like those who have allergies, but it's not the first problem linked to these pharmacies. nine patients died last year in alabama after receiving a feeding solution made by a compound pharmacy contaminated with bacteria, but the former chief counsel of the fda tells abc news, the industry has been hijacked by those now just making cheap copies of safer drugs. >> these individuals are no

different than counterfeiters. instead of manufacturing fake rolexes, they're manufacturing fake drugs. >> reporter: as for the latest victims, janet russell's family in nashville is praying she'll pull through. >> i mean everybody is going through the same thing. it's just hard to see your mother. >> reporter: today's recall affects up to 1,000 products, everything from drugs to simple vitamins, but, david, the company saying there's no reason to think the other drugs are contaminated. >> our team of doctors are weighing in on this, as well, dr. besser and dr. ashton. how long before see the true reaction? >> it could be as long as a month, david, before we realize the full problem. now to the race for president, "your voice, your vote" and just 30 days to go now until the election and both candidates trying to capitalize on their own momentum. governor romney fueled by his debate performance in florida all weekend long drawing his biggest crowds yet and president obama with that new unemployment number back to where it was when he took office teaming up with

bill clinton in california, and clinton will be on the campaign trail all week, and this as a new gallup poll showing a tighter race after the debate. the president now up by just three points after being up by six points at his peak. abc's david kerley is on the campaign trail tonight in florida. >> reporter: 9,000 flag-waving romney supporters jammed the town square, 6,000 last night, all ready to turn the president out of office. >> you all have the chance to hear his answers or his not answers -- nonanswers. now, of course, days later we're hearing his excuses, and next january we'll be watching him leave the white house for the last time. >> reporter: team romney is feeling the momentum from his debate performance, and the obama campaign is admitting even the president realizes he didn't perform at his peak. >> i think you can assume that he's reviewed the tape, and it will inform -- it will inform how he handles these subsequent debates. >> reporter: it wasn't all bad news, the president was buoyed by the drop in the unemployment rate to below 8%, and he broke

his own record by raising $181 million in just september, putting him on track to hit a billion dollars, and tonight the president is doing even more fund-raising in los angeles appearing at a small event with bill clinton too, but it's an issue from the debate -- >> governor romney's central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut. >> i don't have a $5 trillion tax cut. >> reporter: -- that has the campaigns arguing in television and web ads. >> not telling the truth. >> reporter: so what's the truth? romney does want to cut tax rates. that would reduce revenue by nearly $5 trillion over 10 years. he says he would offset that loss by eliminating loopholes and deductions, but he has refused to say which ones leaving him open to attack by team obama. >> mitt romney's solution is he just decided there wasn't math involved in this problem, and that's absolutely crazy. >> reporter: while the president continues that fund-raising swing, mitt romney will deliberate blistering foreign policy speeches attacking the president on middle eastern

policy. that is tomorrow. david? >> we'll be watching for that. david kerley on the campaign trail in florida. david, thank you. i want to bring in our senior washington editor rick klein tonight, and, rick, let's take another look at that gallup poll we showed. a tighter race already. we know it's a rolling average and still reflect s voters asked before the debate and still could be on the move and all eyes on the crucial battleground states. in colorado where the debate was held, a university of denver poll showing the president holding on to his lead in colorado, but, rick, both are watching the battlegrounds closely over the next week. >> those are the poll s that really matter at this stage. we see some signs of tightening but nothing dramatic yet. it looks like it shook the race but didn't upend it so still talking about a slight edge for president obama. >> you talked about mr. romney's debate performance. we know the vice presidential debate is this week and there had been memorable moments before. we remember this from four years ago. >> nice to meet you. hey, can i call you joe? >> you can call me joe. >> can i call you joe. that was sarah palin holding her

own against joe biden and this memorable moment from 1998 debate, vice presidential candidate lloyd bentsen saying this to dan quayle as he said he he had as much experience as jfk. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> two very memorable lines but you made an interesting observation. >> they are quite famous but both were uttered by losing candidates. paul ryan and joe biden know the stakes are huge for this debate. this is brand-new terrain for ryan. biden has more pressure on him than last week after the man at the top of the ticket did not deliver. >> rick klein with the bigger picture, thank you. a reminder right here, "one on one, the candidates debate" on thursday night, diane and george right at the desk. jake tapper and me at the debate hall, and abc's martha raddatz will be moderating the debate. it all begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on abc. in the meantime, we move on to a key issue for voters, the

soaring price of gas. averaging 3.81 nationally, that's up 3 cents in the past week. and in california, look at this, an average of 4.65 a gallon, so tonight we're asking what's going on in california, and are we about to see a turning point with those prices? here's abc's brandi hitt now. >> reporter: california drivers are beyond frustrated -- >> i didn't even get like ten gallons in $43. >> gas prices are almost $5 a gallon. i mean, it's ridiculous. my car right here takes almost $100 to fill it up. >> reporter: -- as they face a second straight day of record-breaking gas prices, perhaps prompting thieves who electronically disabled a meter at this shell in roseville, california, and stole nearly 1,000 gallons. >> i don't know if we can recover the money or not, but at least those people should go to jail. >> reporter: the dramatic spike in california is thanks to the perfect storm of problems. while one plant in richmond was shut down because of a fire, another plant closed last week because of power problems. a pipeline also became contaminated, and it all

happened as california prepares to switch from now scarce summer grade to winter grade fuel. new england is also seeing a price increase as older refineries shut down. >> it's just here in california and up in the northern new england states where there are some anomalies going on, and that's why prices are still high. >> reporter: nationally the areas in red are being hit hardest. gas prices in new york and connecticut are also still well above $4 a gallon, as is the case in the northwest. drivers here in burbank are paying up to $5.89 a gallon, and some oil experts believe prices could go up another 20 cents before finally coming down over the next week. david? >> all right. brandi hitt tonight in california. brandi, thank you, and welcome to the team. and now from those rising gas prices to those falling temperatures tonight. a large part of the country seemed to go straight from summer to winter. temperatures were in the 30s when the minneapolis marathon kicked off today. many of the runners you can see had to wear hats and gloves just to keep warm so we bring in ginger zee who knows that region

well and forecasted in chicago for years but this is a wide section. >> the twin city marathon runners liked it but everyone else shocking, feels like winter has come in. look at these numbers bottomed out. amarillo at 34. tulsa, 32. pierre, that's a record at 19. a lot of those teens. the coldest of the season. >> we know we have a holiday but what do people wake up to as they wake up to work? >> even colder in spots. freeze watches and warnings, frost advisories all the way from texas to new jersey. new york, 44 tomorrow but look at indianapolis only at the freezing mark, chicago just one tick above that. the next natural question, how long does it stick around? the mid-atlantic from raleigh to new york city there going to get back to the 60s so some rebounding but look at chicago. this cold air thing is going to continue happening. it's autumn. >> 56 on wednesday you say there, ginger zee, thanks for being with us. we turn overseas and to the middle east where the israeli military shot down a drone that flew deep into the country, you see it there, the first time in six years a hostile aircraft

flew into israeli airspace. not clear who launched the drone, but the militant group hezbollah is based in lebanon and is suspected tonight. a fierce enemy of the united states, hugo chavez, faces the toughest election of his life tonight. venezuelans have been lining up all day to vote in the presidential race there. chavez has denounced the united states as "the biggest menace to our planet." he once called former president george w. bush "a donkey, a coward and an immoral person." anchor jorge ramos from our partner network univision is in venezuela tonight for the election, and i spoke with jorge just moments ago here. jorge, great to have you with us again tonight and president chavez finding himself in his closest race yet to hold on to power. >> reporter: absolutely. for the first time in 13 years president hugo chavez might lose the presidency. he hasn't been able to control inflation, crime, corruption, and for the first time all the opposition parties got together behind one candidate, henrique capriles, a formidable 40-year-old former governor. >> we al know that president chavez almost made it political sport to become friends with our

own rivals in america but he also controls a significant amount of oil that comes to the united states. >> reporter: there is a lot at stake for the united states here in venezuela. on a personal level, we have to remember that president hugo chavez had insulted both president barack obama and president bush, but we have to remember venezuela exports billions of barrels of oil to the united states, and hugo chavez can disrupt oil prices just with a phone call and also what chavez has done, his most important ally, iran, in the region. and even though president barack obama once told me he does not consider hugo chavez to be a threat to national security, many republicans don't agree on this with pressure on barack obama, david. >> all right, jorge ramos with our partners at univision. jorge, thank you. back in this country now and we turn this evening to the unsolved mystery in colorado tonight. the 10-year-old girl who vanished without a trace while heading to school. there is a massive search under way tonight. abc's clayton sandell is in colorado with the first key clue in this case. >> reporter: three days since 10-year-old jessica ridgeway vanished. today the first real clue.

police recovered a backpack and water bottle they believe might be jessica's about six miles from where she vanished. >> the backpack has been isolated. the bloodhound is being used. >> reporter: today new teams of scent dogs combed her westminster, colorado, neighborhood. jessica's mother sarah says she last saw her daughter friday as she walked to school but she never arrived. the school called home, but her mother works overnights and says she was asleep missing the call. by the time she discovered jessica missing, eight crucial hours had passed. to give you an idea of the neighborhood, jessica's house is right over there, and this is about the point where her mother would have last seen her, and as you can see, it's only three houses from the park where jessica was supposed to meet with her friends meaning if she was taken here, it happened in a very short distance and in a very narrow window of time. over the weekend, more than 800 volunteers scoured trails and hillsides. jessica is caught in a custody battle between her mother and father, who lives in missouri.

while police say they have no suspects, they're not ruling anyone out. >> if you look at the number of children that disappear in the united states, they tend to be well over 90% of the time at the hands of a parent or a relative. >> reporter: police say they've gotten hundreds of tips. now they just want to bring jessica home. clayton sandell, abc news, westminster, colorado. >> our thanks to clayton who will stay on the case. frnls and there was a massive crash in the final lap of the talladega superspeed way. tony stewart had the lead but misjudged the final lap and triggered a massive pileup. everyone was okay but matt kenseth ended up with the win. there is still much more ahead on "world news" this sunday night. it was the unexpected character that emerged in that fierce battle with the president and mitt romney. tonight, what big bird is now saying about suddenly becoming the center of that political storm.

[old english accent] i doth declare that thou have brought overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing? we doth offer so many discounts, we have some to spare. oh, you have any of those homeowners discounts? here we go. thank you. he took my shield, my lady. these are troubling times in the kingdom. more discounts than we knoweth what to do with. now that's progressive. there's the sign to the bullpen. here he comes. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job, the pitch! whoa! so why are you doing his? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid-related erosions in

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as you saw right there, it's just days till the vice presidential debate, and we're hearing for the first time though what someone brought up though at the last debate, big bird speaking out about that unexpected moment. here's abc's reena ninan tonight. >> reporter: big bird took the high road on "saturday night live" last night. >> so, before you go, do you have any political statement you want to make? >> no, i don't want to ruffle any feathers. >> reporter: but plenty of feathers were ruffled as he was thrust into the presidential campaign this week. >> i am going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i'm going to stop other things. i like pbs. i like big bird and i like you too. >> somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. elmo, you better make a run for it. >> reporter: campaign surrogates keep it alive today. >> he's taking the battle straight to "sesame straight"

and let wall street run hog wild. >> reporter: so was it a mistake targeting america's favorite yellow bird? >> george, it wasn't a targeting it was a just pointing to one example that big bird is a pretty commercially successful entity. >> reporter: but the truth is the show relies on less than 0.1% of funding from federal dollars. after the debate, some 17,000 tweets per minute came in about #bigbird. welcome to the middle class, big bird. despite or because of it, big bird has helped the romney campaign to raise $12 million in the 48 hours after the debate. >> how did you find out that your name had been mentioned in the debate? >> oh, i got a million tweets. >> okay, so you're on twitter. >> no, i'm a bird. tweeting is how we talk. >> okay. >> reporter: what's also talking are the sales here at sullivan's toy store in washington, d.c. they say they're selling more big bird items than they have in weeks past, proving just how profitable one yellow bird can be. david? >> reena ninan in washington tonight, reena, thank you. when we come back on the

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and finally tonight, this is the scene here in new york city this evening. daredevil david blaine at it again wearing a suit of steel right there. that's metal, 27 pounds of it, as he gets shocked with a million volts of electricity, and he's letting his fans do the zapping. abc's john schriffen face to face with blaine asking what we are all asking, why? >> it's alive. >> reporter: it's a modern-day twist on the movie "frankenstein," only this jolt

has real-life consequences. in his latest death-defying stunt, illusionist david blaine is being electrified for 72 hours. >> the volts are really cool. >> reporter: to get a better idea of what it's like inside the lightning storm, i get closer than anyone else. all right. here we go. gives me a chance to talk to david blaine. we head up in the elevator cage protecting us from the volts, and just moments later, eye to eye with the stunt man himself. now some people might call you crazy. why are you doing this? it's hard to hear him. blaine says he's always had a fascination with electricity and becoming a human plasma ball. this is not the first time that blaine, a gluttofor punishment, has pushed the limits of the human body. he's hung upside down for more than two days over new york's central park, suspended himself in a box over the thames river for 44 days and submerged himself underwater for a week. but unlike many of his previous stunts, this one was designed to be interactive. the crowds here in new york or

at pop-up stations around the world is able to control the voltage and zap blaine with a push of a button. can you feel the pain? he tells me sometimes he feels a slight tingle, but that protective suit is working. if all goes according to plan, monday night blaine will come down having accomplished another bizarre but amazing feat. david, we wish you the best of luck. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: john schriffen, abc news, new york. >> don't get too close there, john. and that is the broadcast for this sunday night. "good morning america" first thing in the morning. diane sawyer right back here tomorrow night. from all of us here, thank you for watching. good night.

>> ama: next at 6:00. gas prices are through the roof in california and now the governor thinks he has a solution. >> and a major gas heist. how crooks got away with fuel. >> a busy fun-filled weekend, from the blue angels and america's cup to parades paraded festivals. we have all the action. abc-7 news at 6:00 starts now. >> soaring gas prices break another record. the statewide average is now 4.65 a gallon, but relief could soon be on the way. good evening and thank you for joining u we're live tnight with a look at what could soon hopefully be changing. tomas? reporter: hopefully. now, gas prices in some areas of the bay -- some cities in the